Auto Talk: 2012 Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG Coupe

Many cars have challenged the perpetually great BMW M3 over the years, with the Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG sedan—introduced in 2008—among those that have come closest to knocking off the M3’s crown. With the C-class coupe debuting this year, AMG’s newest product was a bit of a no-brainer. Still, we don’t see the C63 AMG coupe so much as a two-door version of a sedan but rather as the M3’s most formidable and natural competitor yet.

Funk Flex

Both M3 and C63 are based on a famous German luxury brand’s cheaper U.S. offering. Both demand an ante about 50 percent higher than that of their entry-level siblings. Both are available as sedans and (now) coupes. (In Germany, the lucky Hunde can even buy a C63 station wagon.) Both offer seven-speed automated transmissions (the C63’s is standard). Both have more than 400 hp—but only one has way more.

Hello, My Name Is Torque

The C63 AMG’s 451 hp surpasses the M3’s output by 37 ponies. If, however, that isn’t enough, AMG offers the Development package, which swaps the regular C63’s pistons, connecting rods, and crankshaft for the same pieces used in AMG’s gullwing SLS flagship. These plus a reprogramming of the engine-management system net 481 hp, 67 more than the M3’s. AMG’s bruiser also crushes the M3 in torque output, its 443 lb-ft—with or without the Development pack—representing an advantage of 148 lb-ft.
Not surprisingly, then, this gnarly Mercedes coupe will quickly become a dot in the distance to the M3 driver—and to drivers of most everything this side of supercar territory, really—which is more impressive when you consider the AMG’s 400-plus-pound weight disadvantage. The C63 takes 3.7 seconds to rip to 60 mph, 8.6 to hit 100. People whose driveways are a quarter-mile long will need 12.1 seconds to get to the mailbox, and we’d be very interested to see the solution for collecting the mail at 120 mph. And check out the 30-to-50- and 50-to-70-mph passing times of 2.5 and 2.7 seconds.

All the C63’s straight-line miracles are accompanied by some of our favorite vocals in the industry, a voice like velvet woven from razor wire. As proof of how little Mercedes refinement survived AMG boot camp, consider this: At 83 decibels under full throttle, the C63 is only 2 dBA quieter inside than a Dodge Viper coupe.

Although we always prefer a manual, the C63’s seven-speed swaps gears in as few as 100 milliseconds. The pull to ever-higher speeds is relentless, and the “screw you” effortlessness with which the C63 driver can relegate challengers to mirror blips is simply amazing. We were torn by our desire to conduct the engine manually using the steering-wheel-mounted paddle shifters and the reality that the transmission doesn’t always get the full message regarding multigear downshift requests.
Here and There and Everywhere, Right Now

Like the C63 sedan, the coupe has a remarkably solid structure and a stiff ride that lands barely on the right side of abusive. The updates made to the 2012 C63 sedan guided Mercedes’ hand on the coupe as well, with more negative camber at every corner and revised springs, shocks, and bushings. The car’s exemplary “hit it and forget it” body control faithfully reads and transmits every divot and lump in the road but dwells on none of them. The C63 coupe corners more neutrally than last year’s sedan but is still riotously easy to slide, and abrupt inputs at the limit can easily turn cornering into drifting. Hold it together, though, and it sticks for 0.91 g. Although that figure isn’t as high as some of the numbers we’ve recorded from the benchmark M3, the C63’s utter lack of body roll means the Benz changes direction with seemingly supernatural immediacy. We like the quickness of the steering for informal back-road blasts but found it a touch too light and twitchy when chasing lap records.

As a whole, the C63 AMG coupe is a shocking, intimidating, and tremendously rewarding car. Is it better than the BMW M3? You don’t expect us to answer that question without a head-to-head, do you? We’ll get back to you.
CD